gchat liiiife

she's the one that helps me make it through the day. she gets me. she is my other half.
to her i dedicate this post!

E:  I'm putting on my big girl pants and working now
Just thought you should know

me:  haha havent you been doing that all day?

E:  its just been a trouble-shooting day

so I have done nothing on my list

me:  yeah, thats like...every morning from 8-11:15 for me

E:  so now I feel drained

me:  word

E:  which is why i'm being an adult now

me:  ok. im deciding adult life kinda sucks 85% of the time

E:  oh yeah, definitely

and we don't even get lots of the benefits

like having money to buy nice shoes

and cheese 

me:  haha i love that shoes and cheese are on the same level

why is cheese so delicious and so expensive??

E:  its a daily question for me

 ***

E: its so nice when people understand me

...or tumblrs understand me

me: haha i know

its hilarious

and helps your realize...im not the only one!

tumblrs= building solidarity

E: solidaridad

maybe mcc can fund some tumblrs

***

E:

just talking about the merits of different chaleco anti-balas (bullet proof vests)

my liiife

me: "things you will never hear discussed in the mcc office"

 ***

E:

carlos (boss) quote in real time "oigame, si se ha engordado" (listen to me, you have gotten fat)

to one of my coworkers

me: lol

"things you would never hear a boss say in N. America"

i like this game i just invented ;)

we should start a tumblr!

 ***

gchat: where our best ideas are born, and important topics are always up for discussion.

things Hondurans say...never.

I used to love playing a game in college with my friends called "Things." Each round was a different "thing," (like, things you never say to your mother) and as in Balderdash, everyone had to come up with their own clever response, and then you had to guess who wrote each one.

When my friend Elise passed on this list from another blogger, I could help but laugh. And of course we added some :) Here is our version of "things you will never hear Hondurans say":

No. Please don't add salt.

Fill it up.

This taxi can only carry six passengers.

Something to drink? Just water, please.

Chicken? I never eat it.

I have so much mail to sort through.

I love a hot shower in the morning.

Coffee? Sure. Just one sugar, please.

I can't eat one more tortilla!

I think the temperature is just perfect today.

I love walking barefoot through the grass.

That looks very dangerous. I will tell my child he/she should not do that activity.

Shhhhhhh! Someone is sleeping, we don't want to wake them up!

It's probably too late to shoot off fireworks.

Oh good! I'm going to arrive early.



...sometimes, we all need a bit of levity to make it through the day

360 degrees

Since I first came to Honduras, I have been committed to getting the "full" Honduran experience...or the 360 degree view, if you will.

Some days I'm not even trying so hard and these things just happen to me...

Exhibit A:
As any gringa in Honduras will tell you, it is not rare to have people stare at you, make inappropriate comments or make you feel uncomfortable for looking different. I should be used to the fact that I am 13 inches taller than the average Honduran. But--Honduras likes to keep me humble...

Walking home from the gym I passed a bolo (drunk) on the street and he says to me "Uy, usted es gigante" or in English "Wow, you are a giant." No matter how drunk the man was or how frequently I am called out for being tall, it always stings just a bit.

Exhibit B:

Just this week I went to the doctor for a minor skin irritation on my arm. All I wanted was a cream. 

Did I just get the prescription for a cream?

Nope.
I got a shot--right in the hip. Talk about a sting!

It might be pertinent to know that Hondurans are obsessed with injections. No matter what the ailment, there is an injection that will (supposedly) cure you 10x faster than any pill or healthy eating regimen.

While the hip hurt the rest of the day and the injection site was rather tender, I did admit to a good friend that I can't help but feel I am one step closer to the full Honduran experience. I guess I'm still missing a few degrees to be able to say I've seen all 360.

soup!

Some of you know about my hatred for Honduran soup. It runs deep. It's always eaten on the HOTTEST days of the week, and you have to eat it with your HANDS! I know...soup--with your hands--you must be crazy!

BUT--I'm not the only one who feels this way. My good friend and cohort in the never ending quest to discuss, dissect and generally absorb all that we can regarding Honduran culture wrote a wonderful post about this very topic. Since we helped each other articulate these deep feelings, I feel good about reposting her excellent work. Enjoy.

[Oh, and check her blog. It's good too :) Elise's Blog: A View From Honduras]

I avoid generalizations about Hondurans, since I obviously don't know every single inhabitant of this beautiful land. However, I will take my chances with this one. Hondurans LOVE soup. They are obsessed with soup. Soup is their life blood. Seriously.

Hondurans can wax poetic about the qualities of a bean soup for at least 30 minutes without effort. Recently, a lady stared selling a different type of soup every day at work. We spend most of the lunch hour discussing the qualities of the tortilla soup, and planning which soup they'll order the next day.  

My host mom always tells me excitedly in the morning if she'll be making soup that day, and the whole family joins in the joy about the delicacy. 

I however, don't share these feelings. This is why: 

That's a typical Honduran beef soup. Do you see the CHUNKS of meat, corn, yucca and plantain?!?! That is NOT soup, that is broth with unmanageably large pieces of starch that I have to take extract from the burning broth with my hands, and then try to figure out how to eat without a knife in sight (you shouldn't need a knife to eat soup). 

In my cultural context, you eat soup with a spoon. It's a smooth, creamy, experience, to be eaten with bread and maybe lemonade. It's a great treat on a cold, winter day. 

Here, I am not allowed to eat my soup with bread (it has to be tortillas) and heaven forbid I drink a cold beverage with my soup (hot and cold things can't mix). To add insult to injury, soup is eaten on the hottest days (once again, can't mix hot with cold). 

Finally (I promise, this is the end of my rant), soup broth has so much lard in it, that washing a receptacle that has held soup is a nightmare. I often find myself angrily stabbing at a soup pot with my sponge taking out all my anger at the piece of plantain that I had to eat earlier in the day. 

Now, thankfully Honduras has so many wonderful things, that the difference between my cultural understanding of soup, and a Honduran understanding is minor in the scheme of things.  However, after I come home from a run on a hot day, I must admit, the piping hot seafood soup on the stove makes me want to go running in the opposite direction.

laughter is the best (coping) medicine

Here is a video of the skit my SALTer pals and I did at the re-entry retreat in July.

The idea was to share cultural experiences from where we spent our year, so the 3 of us decided to write a skit based on real life experiences of thwarting unwanted male attention as Northamerican females in Honduras.

Hope you enjoy :)




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Bqwc_IbRU